Systematic study of chromonic liquid crystal-based complex emulsions and their application in the preparation of silica nanomaterials

Multiple triphasic emulsions constitute versatile templates for the preparation of complex particles and capsules. In these emulsions the volume fractions and interfacial tensions between the phases dictate the droplet morphology, enabling various morphologies such as Janus, core-shell and snowman d...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Pérez-Calm, Adrià, Kolen'ko, Yury V., Salonen, Laura M., Busson, Hugo, Esquena, Jordi, Rodríguez-Abreu, Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/364348
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/364348
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85198008964
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Water-in-water emulsion
Chromonic liquid crystal
Janus emulsion
Silica nanomaterials
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Descripción
Sumario:Multiple triphasic emulsions constitute versatile templates for the preparation of complex particles and capsules. In these emulsions the volume fractions and interfacial tensions between the phases dictate the droplet morphology, enabling various morphologies such as Janus, core-shell and snowman droplets. In this article, we describe the preparation of all-aqueous water-in-water (W/W) emulsions composed by a perylene-based chromonic liquid crystal and a hydrophilic polymer. This combination yields emulsions with liquid crystalline droplets exhibiting diverse configurations of the director, including the formation of twisted structures, from achiral mesogens. Three-phase multiple emulsions with various morphologies were obtained by the emulsification of W/W emulsions in either another aqueous phase or in hexadecane. The resulting droplet morphologies depended on the composition of the system. Furthermore, hollow silica particles with a chromonic-templated microporous structure were prepared via a sol−gel reaction within the liquid crystalline phase of water-in-water-in-oil emulsions. These findings show how the unique templating properties of chromonic liquid crystals can be applied to all-aqueous emulsions for the synthesis of complex silica particles, with a controlled structure both at the micro- and nanoscale.